Running Away
by holby.fan112
Summary: 15 year old Zosia is going through a hard time. Her mother's cancer has returned and her dad is too wrapped up in work to care about her. As well as that, she's been having insane mood swings and doesn't know what's happening to her body. Is running away ever going to be the solution for all her problems? Rated M for swearing and TW self harm.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys, I've had a bit of a writer's block for my songfic so I thought I could give you a oneshot instead that, if you guys like, I could continue. Otherwise, feel free to leave me some ideas for what I can put in my other fic because I really need some help with it x**

"Just piss off, Jessica, okay!" a fifteen-year-old girl moaned, storming off to the other side of the school quad.

"Looks like Zosia has a visit from Aunt Flo." Jessica muttered, nudging Tamara, who was another of Zosia's best friends.

"Just leave her, alone okay! She might have stuff going on that we don't know about! I'm sick of you constantly belittling people - it's like you think you're superior or something!" Tamara replied, with a raised voice, "And, seeing as you don't really give a shit, then I'm going after her!"

Jessica was taken aback by her normally quiet friend having a go at her and, although she didn't want to show it, she could feel herself shaking a little. She huffed as she picked up her handbag and flounced off.

...

15 year old Zosia Self (or March as she would prefer to call herself) was hiding in the school toilets. She rolled up her sleeves and traced her right index finger over the red weals decorating her wrist. She was going through a tough time, her mother's cancer had returned and she was having manic spells where she would clean the house from top to toe, answer every question in class, vow to attend netball club every week but they quickly spiralled into depression. She wouldn't want to do anything like go to school, do her homework and often questioned her existence. Zosia had thought about suicide once; she had looked up the the top of the escalators in the shopping centre and wondered who would care if she jumped. Thankfully, she was quickly shaken out of this daydream when her friends asked why she was staring. None of them had really noticed a change - 'emo' was the fashion everyone was aiming for and they just thought she was following the crowd. Her dad and Collette didn't care either, they were too wrapped up in work (or each other, she suspected) to care about her and Mama had enough troubles of her own.

Snapping back into reality, Zosia pulled the sleeve of her blazer back down and flushed the loo, not that she had used it anyway. She unlocked the stall and made her way over to the mirror and sink, to wash her hands. Her father was a neurosurgeon and she had always been taught to wash her hands for thirty seconds, using a strict ritual so it was force of habit to do so, even if she hadn't used the toilet. Shaking her hands out to dry them, before wiping them on a paper towel, she scrutinised herself in the mirror. Zosia considered herself as plain; she had brown hair, which was always tied up in a ponytail and brown eyes with clear skin - she had never had any acne. In reality, this girl was very pretty, her hair was thick and long and it shone like the sun, her eyes were deep and mysterious but she struggled to see herself in a true light, she struggled to find herself.

Zosia didn't really know who she was. She missed the days where she could be as strange, as wacky and original as she wanted, running around in the garden with her friends, not afraid to be different from the crowd. Now, there was a reinforcement to be 'normal' but she didn't know what normal was, she didn't know what _she_ was. If she had to fill out a fact file about herself, all it would say was her name was Zosia Self and she wanted to be a surgeon but she wasn't sure what type. Some days, she didn't feel like she could be anything and her life wasn't worth living.

Maybe her life _wasn't_ worth living. She had to _make_ it worth living. All of a sudden, Zosia felt a new mind set finally spring upon her. A little voice in her head said, "Go on, Zosia, do something _wild,_ you don't have to be the perfect little schoolgirl anymore. Do something drastic, make them all realise that you're strong, not vulnerable and weak." And, with that, she made a decision. Playing truant wasn't something that Zosia would even dream about but she needed to get away, run away. She didn't know where she was going but it was somewhere far, far from Holby.

...

She arrived at the train station - the nearest departure was London Victoria, leaving in 5 minutes. She purchased a single and, hastily giving the woman behind the counter five pounds, she dashed onto the platform, hoping nobody had seen her. The train would be arriving in three minutes. She went to sit on a bench but there were no spaces so she stood, although her pulse was racing and her legs were aching. All of a sudden, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Zosia jumped and turned around to find a boy who looked around the same age as her, maybe older. He was wearing his school uniform but he didn't look like a schoolboy, his tie was short, fat and loose and the sleeves of his blazer were rolled up.

"Do you want to sit down?" the boy said, "You skiving too?"

"Wait, how did you -" Zosia said, "Oh." she realised that she was still wearing her school uniform.

He smiled at her.

"My sister would go insane if she found out but I don't think I give a fuck anymore." he said, bluntly, "What's your name?"

"I'm Zosia, erm, thanks for your seat." she said, gratefully sitting down, putting her handbag down on the floor.

"Nice name. I'm Oliver. Do you wanna sit next to me on the train? We could get to know each other." he said, trying to play it cool but, inside he was boiling up. This girl was beautiful, in his eyes.

"Thanks, it's Polish. Everyone just says it's weird, I don't think I've ever had a compliment on my name." she beamed, "And yes, I'd like to get to know you better. I'd like that a lot, actually."

They smiled and the soft chug of the train approaching sealed the moment. Zosia looked into his eyes, they were ice blue and he had dark brown hair, darker than her own but not quite black. Something deep down decided that maybe running away wasn't such a bad decision after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the review perpetualpathology, every visit, view and review is always appreciated x**

"So, where are we going?" said Ollie.

He and Zosia had alighted a train to London Victoria together and were a few stops down the line when Ollie realised they didn't know what they were going to do once they got off.

"Good question." she replied, distantly, whilst looking out of the window.

"Urm, Zosia, where actually do you want to go?" he said, pulling gently on her arm.

"I don't know, okay!" she snapped, "Sorry. My head's all over the place at the moment."

"Don't worry about it. Mine sort of is too." he replied, "We could go to McDonalds."

"Alright, I missed my lunch so that would be a good idea." Zosia said, "Do you have any money?"

"Urm, I think I've got a tenner somewhere." he replied, searching in his black backpack, "Here we go."

Ollie pulled out a tattered ten pound note.

"I know it's not much, sorry."

Zosia blushed because she had left her purse at home.

"No, it's cool. More than what I have anyway."

She checked her Baby-G watch; its pixelated display showed that it was 14:46. She grew anxious as she knew that Jess and Tamara would be looking for her. She had maths next and she was one of the top students in the top set. Some might say she was a teacher's pet because Miss Garret always relied on her to answer the questions correctly. However, the steady drum of the train calmed her mind and being with Ollie masked her feelings completely.

"What's your full name?" Ollie asked as she snapped out of her daydream.

"Oh, I'm Zosia Self. But I would rather be Zosia March."

"Why's that?"

"March is my mother's name and Self is my father's. I hate my father."

"What did he do to you?" Ollie asked, intrigued.

"He's just so wrapped up in work. And _Collette_." Zosia mimed being sick as she said her name.

"Who's Collette? And where does he work?"

"For goodness' sake is this some dumb questionnaire or something?!" Zosia moaned, "He's a neurosurgeon at Holby City Hospital. And Collette is just some stupid nurse. She thinks she knows all about me but she doesn't. She has nothing to do with me!"

"Sorry, I just wanted to know more about you, you're interesting. More interesting than me anyway."

"I'll take that as a compliment, then." she smiled, "We're getting off at the next stop. Stand up so we're ready."

"Zosia, _everyone_ is getting off at the next stop - it's the last one so we won't have to push through people. Therefore, we don't have to stand up." Ollie said.

"So, what's your full name Ollie?" she asked after obediently sitting down again.

"I'm actually called Oliver. Oliver Valentine."

" _Valentine_. Nice. We can have an unusual name club." she joked, "Zosia's very unusual and I've never heard of anyone with Valentine as a last name."

He smiled.

"I meant to ask, how old are you Zosia? I'm 16."

"Oh, I was 15 in February." she replied, "February the second."

The train began to slow down and, as all the other passengers stood up, Ollie and Zosia did the same. She saw him smile and, in Zosia's opinion, his teeth were very white for a 16 year old boy. For a split second, she wondered if her brain had conjured him up and she was actually still at school because he seemed so perfect. For a start, his last name was Valentine but, as well as that, his skin was clear, his teeth were white and those eyes! She could stare into them all day. However, she had to pay attention as she was getting off the train. She thought the butterflies in her stomach had flown away but they came rushing back again, this time as giant ugly moths. The stony grey platform was packed full of people but there was one face that she recognised.

"Ollie, Ollie, we need to get out of here now!" she said, hurriedly, "Right now!"

Zosia led a confused Ollie by the hand as they were submerged into the mob of people trying to go through the gates at Victoria station.

"I can't find my ticket!" she exclaimed, her hands shaking as she rooted through her coat pockets. She found it and was about to put it in the reader before she felt somebody grab the hood of her Parka.

"Zosia!" Ollie shouted as he ran after her and the mysterious figure.

"Ollie!" she cried, "Ollie! Help!"

 **Who do you think the mysterious figure could be? Leave a review and let me know who you think it is!**


End file.
